This article was previously published under Q174156
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SUMMARY
You can use the Windows API to start the default Internet browser on your
system. To do so, you must first determine what Internet browser is
registered as the default on your system, and then start that application.
The following Visual Basic example will launch whatever Internet browser is
registered as the default on your system. Obviously, at least one Internet
browser must be successfully installed and set up on the system for this to
work. Also, since this code is highly dependent on the application-file type associations in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT hive of the registry, this can lead to unexpected results and exceptions if the registry is damaged. File types and extensions may also be associated with applications other than the browser. For example, HTM or HTML files may be associated with web development software instead of the browser.
Note that both API functions in the following sample return a value of 32 or less on failure, but the error constants are not included in this article. Full error trapping is recommended for any production use of this technique.
Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by
default.
2.
Add a Command button to Form1. Command1 is created by default.
3.
Copy the following code into the Form's module:
Private Const SW_SHOW = 5 ' Displays Window in its current size
' and position
Private Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1 ' Restores Window if Minimized or
' Maximized
Private Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" Alias _
"ShellExecuteA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpOperation As _
String, ByVal lpFile As String, ByVal lpParameters As String, _
ByVal lpDirectory As String, ByVal nShowCmd As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function FindExecutable Lib "shell32.dll" Alias _
"FindExecutableA" (ByVal lpFile As String, ByVal lpDirectory As _
String, ByVal lpResult As String) As Long
Private Sub Command1_Click()
Dim FileName As String, Dummy As String
Dim BrowserExec As String * 255
Dim RetVal As Long
Dim FileNumber As Integer
' First, create a known, temporary HTML file
BrowserExec = Space(255)
FileName = "C:\temphtm.HTM"
FileNumber = FreeFile ' Get unused file number
Open FileName For Output As #FileNumber ' Create temp HTML file
Write #FileNumber, "<HTML> <\HTML>" ' Output text
Close #FileNumber ' Close file
' Then find the application associated with it
RetVal = FindExecutable(FileName, Dummy, BrowserExec)
BrowserExec = Trim(BrowserExec)
' If an application is found, launch it!
If RetVal <= 32 Or IsEmpty(BrowserExec) Then ' Error
MsgBox "Could not find associated Browser", vbExclamation, _
"Browser Not Found"
Else
RetVal = ShellExecute(Me.hwnd, "open", BrowserExec, _
"www.microsoft.com", Dummy, SW_SHOWNORMAL)
If RetVal <= 32 Then ' Error
MsgBox "Web Page not Opened", vbExclamation, "URL Failed"
End If
End If
Kill FileName ' delete temp HTML file
End Sub
4.
Press the F5 key to run the project. Click on Command1 and your default
Internet Browser will start.
For more information, please Search on the following topics in either the
Win32 Programmer's Reference or The Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN)
Library CD-ROM:
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